Ghost Love Score
by Flyboy 62
Summary: Oneshot. HieiBotan. Hiei wants to stay in the demon world. Botan wants him to come home.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters, or the song "Ghost Love Score" by Nightwish.

**A/N: **Yeah, so it snowed today(YES) and I was bored, so I decided to go ahead and make this little oneshot. It's my first if my memory's working right. I used to have more stories up but they were made a long time ago so they all SUCKED and I deleted them. Anyways, this is a tribute to Hiei, the badass of Yu Yu Hakusho. The title is just the name of this ridiculously EPIC song.

**Ghost Love Score**

The sky was falling. Small, round chunks of white fluttered down from the heavens high above, dancing on the wind before slamming face first into the ground, which was now white from all of their friends doing the same.

If one were to try to paint a picture of the day, the dominant color would without a doubt have to be grey. A never ending blanket of dark clouds blotched out the sky, not letting any of the noble blue that was there yesterday make its way through. The pine trees' once green color were now covered in a sheet of white as if it were time for bed, and it was a miracle that the small, babbling brook that ran through this quiet and peaceful place had not yet frozen over. The crystal clear and unpolluted water danced smoothly and slowly around the small pebbles in its wake, carrying on and off down a nearby hill. It was so clean that one could look into it and see their reflection clear as day and would be able to notice even the smallest blemish upon their features.

The instant that the tip of the blade touched the water, a blob of crimson began to soil its perfection, moving down with the water as it made its way to wherever it was going. The blood matched the eyes of the man wielding the katana almost perfectly, only his orbs possessed a color slightly colder than that of the living fluid.

Hiei Jaganshi's face was blank as he drew back his sword from the water, reaching beneath his black cloak with a bandaged hand and drawing forth a white rag. Gently, as if weapon were of his own flesh, he glided the towel two and fro, cleaning off whatever muck remained upon it and polishing it until it shone brilliantly, even on this day when the sun had obviously taken some time off.

A soft gust of wind suddenly ruffled through his spiky black hair and made the bottom of his cloak dance about at his feet. He glanced uncaringly over his shoulder in the direction that the wind had come from, his expression remaining a stoic wall of stone as he laid his eyes upon the source of the sudden blow.

Cerulean locks danced in the wind, tied back into a pony tail which swished and swashed to and fro. Violet eyes, slightly darker than the pink kimono in which the woman was clad, remained locked on the swordsman as his attention returned to tending his blade. Stepping down off of her wooden oar, which flipped about until she held it in her left hand, upside-down, as she would a walking stick, she slowly made her over to the short man, her gentle feet treading softly upon the newly fallen snow.

Botan stood there in silence for a moment, watching him where he was knelt before the creek with the sword upon his thigh, the cloth moving back and forth along its side. She took a breath.

"What is it, onna?" Hiei questioned, his voice cold and dry. There was not a drop of emotion in the sentence, and she could only tell it was a question by his use of the word "what".

"Hiei, I…" she trailed off. She didn't understand why it was so important to her that she use the right words, but she would try her best nonetheless, "…thank you."

Hiei did not answer at first, his crimson orbs remaining fixed upon the katana as he worked diligently.

"Hn." He offered, flipping the blade over slowly and carefully as to cleanse the other side, "They chose just the wrong place at the wrong time." He said uncaringly, getting back to work. Botan lowered her head slightly, smiling softly.

"Still… you saved my life… and I'm grateful." She said, pushing the issue. Hiei frowned a bit, yet did not look away from the instrument of death in his hands.

"You're just lucky I was there at the moment, onna." He stated coolly, "And if they were not going to attack me to get to you, I would not have intervened." He finished. Hopefully now she would be quiet and leave him be. Was it the truth? No. His honor code would not allow it. Those demons had sought to have their way with the woman, and morals would not allow him to let it slide. Besides, though he would never admit it, through the time that their small group had been together the ferry girl had her moments.

Botan gave a small nod before turning. She sighed and made to mount her oar.

"Why have you come to the Makai in the first place?" He suddenly questioned, a bit too fast for his tastes. She turned, her tiny smile still in place.

"Ever since the Makai Tournament…" She began, pausing, "…I wanted to come back. This place is horrible. Anything could kill you, and yet… everything is so beautiful." She answered, both hands gripping her oar. Hiei snarled softly.

"Your love of pretty things will get you killed. Or worse." He warned, surprised that some anger managed to seep through into his voice, "Have the detective's woman find you some flowers. Or the Fox to get you some roses."

"It's not like that, Hiei." She answered softly. The fire demon frowned and did not answer, but remained listening, "Everything here is beautiful because it can kill you at any second. Because it's a risk to touch or look at it. Because it reminds you… that every moment is precious and that any one… could be your last."

Hiei's brows furrowed as he straightened himself, turning about to face the woman.

"This place is not beautiful." He answered coldly. He sheathed his sword at his side, his free hand balling into a tight fist. The snow had stopped falling now as the two clad in pink and black stood upon white.

"You know nothing about this place. Go back to the Human World before it consumes you." He spat, turning to leave.

"Then why do you stay?" She asked suddenly, forcing him to halt in his retreat, "Why don't you visit us in the Human World? Enma knows Yukina misses you."

Hiei suddenly turned sharply, opening his mouth to speak.

"No, she doesn't know." Botan said before he could question her. The demon's features relaxed then, his white scarf ruffling a bit as another gust of wind blew through.

"Hn. I stay because I must." He answered, his voice losing some of its callousness. Botan kept her eyes fixed on him, she would not let herself even blink.

"Why?" She pressed, stepping towards him. His mask remained in place and his mouth remained shut.

"Because of Mukuro? You want to stay with her?" She asked. Hiei frowned.

"No. I serve her so that I can become strong enough to kill her. She knows this." He answered.

"So you stay to get stronger? You could do that in the Human World too. Yusuke would love to fight with you, and Kurama or Kuwabara would most likely go along with it as well."

"Onna…." The swordsman said warningly.

"Or is that not it? Is the real reason that you're afraid?" She said, catching herself too late. She had gotten carried away. She bit her tongue and looked downwards. Hiei said nothing for a moment.

"I fear nothing." He said, his voice deep and as cold as the air around them. His features softened slightly as he watched her fidget about uncomfortably. "I stay because…"

She looked up hopefully.

"…this place owns me." He finished. The look on her face showed clearly that she didn't understand. Hiei frowned slightly, "I know that you've read my file, onna. You know of what I speak."

Botan's face drooped a bit as her eyes gained a watery look.

"But… why stay if that's the reason? Why not leave? Why not forget the past?" She asked, almost as if she was begging him to leave this place with her. His face remained a wall.

"Hn. Because to be honest… I'm grateful." He said, making her eyes widen in shock. He rolled back the sleeve of his left arm slowly, revealing the bandages that covered the mark of the Black Dragon, "Their scorn drove me to become more powerful. Their hate was my nourishment. Their fear…" He paused, suddenly giving an evil smirk, several of his fangs visible, "…forced me to realize that I have the power of a God."

"LIAR!" The ferry girl cried suddenly, catching him off guard. He almost backed away a step. Almost.

"You and I both know that's not true! I've seen the way you look at your sister, wishing that you could have a normal relationship with her! I know that the reason you are really staying in this place is because you're afraid we're going to do the same thing to you that koorimes did!" Botan finished, suddenly grabbing him by the cloak and balling her hands into fists. Tears were welling up in her eyes.

Hiei's expression of surprise faded as he cast his gaze downwards.

"You're wrong." He answered, looking back up at her and locking gazes. She released him and stepped back, a tear rolling down her cheek. She was caught off guard when the demon wiped it away.

"….I'm a part of this world, onna." He spoke softly, expression dark, "…I will not let Yukina see the horrors of this place…" He paused, keeping eye contact. What the hell was he doing?!

"..I will not let…. You see… the horrors….. of me…." He managed. He straightened himself and made to leave when the woman grabbed a hold of him again, surprising him as she held him tightly against her.

"You are not like them." She said, planting a kiss on his mouth softly, "And you are coming back with me."

Hiei frowned in defiance, about to speak when suddenly he stopped, a smirk playing on his face. Botan watched carefully as he suddenly kissed her back.

Hiei Jaganshi, wielder of the Black Dragon and infamous swordsman of the Demon World, was bested by a ferry girl of the Spirit World. The Angel had bested the Demon.

"Hn." He grunted, pulling back and looking into her eyes. His sword was clean now anyways. He had no reason to linger here. " Let's go home."

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**A/N: **Wow. That was a lot cheesier than I planned. Like holy shit that was corny. I might ask someone to kick my ass tonight. Like wow. I gotta go re-evaluate my manhood. You go ahead and drop a review.


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